Bishops and Dice
by Shannedo
Summary: Three challenges face Arthur in his quest to make Ariadne his Bride. The Ring. The Parents. And the Proposal. Quite frankly, he doesn't know which one scares him more.


"Truth or Dare?" she asks, gazing up at him with her massive brown eyes which glitter in the sun. The pair sit cross-legged by the Eiffel Tower, fiddling with the grass they sit on.

"I ain't playing that game," he says with a small shake of his head. Today, his delightful New Jersey accent was shining through as it often did when he couldn't concentrate properly. Young love did odd things to the mind and Arthur was as love sick as they came.

"You will! You owe me!" she insists, smiling in the way that she knew would melt him. She was correct, Arthur owed her in more ways than one.

"Dare," he replies reluctantly, gently taking a fallen eyelash from her cheek and blowing it away, making her giggle.

"Arthur, I dare you to kiss me," she tells him with glee.

He chuckles and looks down at his shoes, blushing like a school child. "I did!" he says, plucking a dandelion and blowing its seeds in her face.

She bats them away and laughs like a little girl. "In the hotel? That doesn't count, you tricked me!" she persists.

"But you liked it, don't deny it!" he chortles, peering at her from under his eyelashes.

"Arthur, if you enjoyed that kiss half as much as I did, you would have no trouble kissing me again," she says rather quietly. "And I know you like me, why else would you get me to kiss?"

Arthur felt it was perhaps the right time to tell her how he felt. But in the back of his mind, he still had that niggling doubt that she could never feel the same way for him. "Why me, Ariadne? Why do you like me? I'm so much older than you, I'm in such a dangerous line of work, heck, you don't even know my last name!" he says in a pained manor.

"First, you are not old by any means and it wouldn't matter to me if you were. Second, I accepted the danger of our work when I came back to you and Cobb. And why do I need to know your last name? I'm not a third grader, I won't put it at the end of my name and see whether it sounds right!" she tells him, putting a finger under his chin and gently coaxing him into meeting her gaze."I love the Arthur I know and I want to know if he feels the same way."

In answer, Arthur leans in and kisses her gently. "Of course I do, Ariadne."

"It was worth a shot," she quotes with a giggle.

"It always was," came his reply.

* * *

"So... let me get this straight. You're screwing our Architect?" Eames asks him before taking a long drag of his cigarette.

"Very tasteful way of putting it, Eames," Arthur says with a roll of his eyes, downing the dregs of his coffee and glancing around the quiet Parisian street. He sat with his old friend outside a cafe in the fading light of another beautiful late spring day.

"It's the simple way of putting it!" Eames remarks with a grin.

"But the truth avoids simplicity, Mr Eames. I love her, I'm not screwing her for the fun of it," Arthur tells him.

"I was wrong about you, you're not a stick in the mud. Just an idiot," Eames amended, chuckling as he took in the love-sick point man.

Arthur just sighs. "I need an opinion on something. Can you take it seriously?" he asks, rubbing his eyes wearily. Only Eames could tire him out like this.

"Well, I'm not your agony aunt but you can try me," he says, sitting up straight. How the Forger enjoyed annoying his younger cohort.

Arthur just glares at him before proceeding. He pulls a little box out of pocket and passes it to Eames. "What do you think?" he asks, a nervous edge creeping into his voice.

"This is very flattering, Arty, but don't you have a girlfriend?" Eames asks with a snigger.

Arthur can't help but snort at that. "Just look at the god damned thing, Eames. You've been a woman before, do you think she'd like it?" he persists.

Eames ignores his taunts and opens the little box. His eyebrows shoot up and a slow smile takes the place of his snarky grin. A white gold ring is nestled in a sea of blue velvet. Upon it is a small diamond bishop and ruby dice, the letter A engraved on either side. "I take my hat off to you, Arty, this is something special!" he says in a serious tone as he closes the box and returns it to Arthur. "I thought your imagination was nonexistent?"

"Ha ha, Mr Eames," Arthur says flatly as he puts the box back in his pocket. "You think she'll like it?"

"Of course! It's out of the ordinary, just like you two," Eames replies as he takes another drag, blowing the acrid smoke in his friend's face.

Arthur waves it away, coughing. "You know I'm asthmatic!" he snaps.

"I also know you're no fun!" Eames sniggers.

Arthur just sighs, holding back a grin. As annoying as Mr Eames was, he was great fun to be around.

* * *

"Hey, Mom, Dad!" Ariadne squeals excitedly, throwing her arms around her parents as they meet outside her university. The young woman wore a cream floral print summer dress under her graduation gown.

"Hello, sweet pea!" her father cooed as he hugged her.

"It's great to see you again, Mr and Mrs Moreau," Arthur says smoothly.

"Nice seeing you, also, Arthur! Aren't you looking dashing?" Mrs Moreau says as Ariadne returns to his side.

"You look like you've hopped out of the Blues Brothers!" Mr Moreau notes with a grin. And he was correct, minus the hat and glasses.

"Why, thank you, sir! I always did like their music," Arthur replies.

"Well, I have to go now, but I'll see you soon, okay?" Ariadne says, her eyes specifically trained on Arthur.

Her companions smile and nod their approval and, as a parting gesture, she stood on her tip toes to kiss Arthur on the cheek, making him grin like a mad person. He gave her hand a squeeze and then she went into the college, leaving her poor boyfriend with the hopefully-soon-to-be-in-laws.

"So, Arthur, how's work?" Mrs Moreau asks with a smile. The Moreaus were under the impression that Arthur developed software programmes for major corporations and met Ariadne when he was lecturing her class. It was a shady facade but much preferable to the true story to his actual, illegal work.

"Great, thank you for asking. It's a real challenge, I love it," he replies honestly. "How are things with you?"

"Oh, fine thanks," Mr Moreau answers.

"I actually had something to ask you and I felt this was the traditional and respectful way to go about it," Arthur began, averting his gaze to something above their heads. "As you know, Ariadne and I have been together for a few years now. I love her very much and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. May I have your permission to ask for her hand in marriage?" the young Point Man gushes, just wanting what he felt was the most embarrassing part of this whole affair to be over.

When he looks down, he expects their faces to be grim, pale and set. Relief washes over him when he sees them smiling.

Mrs Moreau actually tears up and throws her arms around Arthur. "Aw, son! It's so sweet of you to ask us! Of course we give you permission!" she says as an amused Arthur pats her back.

"Hon, I think that's Ari's job!" Mr Moreau comments. Mrs Moreau giggles and pulls away, stepping back and taking her husband's hand in hers. Then, Mr Moreau continues "Arthur, you make Ari the happiest girl in the world, we'd never think on denying you!"

"Have you got a ring?" Mrs Moreau asks excitedly.

"Give me a little credit, Mrs Moreau!" Arthur says with a chuckle, pulling the ring box from his pocket and passing her it.

"Oh, call me Mom!" she tells him as she opens the box. "Arthur, it's lovely!"

Mr Moreau grins upon seeing it. "I'm guessing the bishop and the dice is an inside joke?"

"Something like that," Arthur replies.

Then, someone slams into the Point Man, making him stumble forward. Upon looking around, Arthur spots Eames, grinning manically with Cobb at his shoulder. He turns back to the Moreaus to apologise. "Sorry, a demented friend of ours!" he explains.

Mr Moreau chuckles and hands the ring back. "See you inside, Arthur!" he says and goes into the college with his wife.

"Do you mind? You just made an ass of me in front of my girlfriend's parents!" Arthur snaps at Eames when the Moreaus are out of earshot.

"Lighten up, Arty!" Eames chortles. "I flew Dom out here just to see your bloody proposal!"

"Can I see it?" Cobb asks, pointing at the box in Arthur's hand.

The Point Man obliges, handing it over. The same slow grin spreads across his face at the sight of the beautiful ring. "Classy! Kudos for originality, I have a feeling Ariadne wouldn't be all that impressed by a typical gold and diamond ring," he says as he hands the box back.

"Aw, Cobb, our little Point Man's all grown up!" Eames jokes.

Arthur smiles and pockets it. "I'm nervous," he says honestly.

"Well, you've got a graduation ceremony to sit through yet!" Eames reassures him, clapping his shoulder.

Arthur nods, "Shall we go inside?" he asks.

"Definitely," Cobb replies.

And, with that, the old friends joined the crowds of the College.

* * *

The only parts of the Graduation Ceremony that Arthur distinctly remembered was the introduction of Eames and Cobb to the Moreaus and Ariadne receiving her degree.

The University held a party on the lawn before the Eiffel Tower for the graduates and what a party it was! A DJ was set up, as was a large screen, which showed photos from the year. Arthur and Ariadne danced to just about every song that came on.

During one rather irritating song, Ariadne excused herself to the toilet and Arthur set his friends to work.

"Eames, I need you to do something for me," Arthur motions to his elder, who comes over immediately. Arthur gives him his request in a hushed tone and Eames jogs off to the DJ stand.

"You ready, Arty?" Cobb asks, hoping Eames' irritating pet name might give the boy a little Dutch courage.

Arthur gulps audibly. "I sure am," he says in a tone that sounds much more confident than he felt.

"It's really no harder than asking her out on your first date was..." Cobb suggests but catches Arthur's incredulous look. "Okay, I'm lying. But in the moment, you won't even see the other people here. All you'll be able to think of is the girl before you and the ring in your hand."

The young Point exhales loudly, unable to speak.

"Just think about it this way, this is no way _near _as scary as the wedding is," Cobb explains.

"Because that makes me feel so much better," Arthur chokes out.

Cobb chuckles. "I'm gonna tell ye olde father-in-law to hang about and get front row seats. Good luck, Arthur," and with a pat on his shoulder, Cobb wanders off.

As the song ends, Ariadne comes back. "Are you okay? You're kind of pale!" she says, looking into Arthur's eyes with deep concern. But she drops her thought when the next song comes on. They'd established it to be their shared favourite many months ago. Arthur glances over to the DJ stand to see a grinning Eames slipping his wallet away.

"Care to dance?" he asks Ariadne.

She just giggles and links her arm through Arthur's, pulling him onto the dance floor.

The ring in his pocket felt like a lead weight to Arthur as he whirls Ariadne around the dance floor. He concentrates on being gleeful and ecstatic for her but worries lay on his mind like a ton of bricks. What if he messed up? What if she said no? What if? What if? What if? Arthur usually radiated confidence, but the one small question he was about to ask had him more nervous than he thought humanely possible.

In a slower portion of the song, Ariadne rests her head in the crook of Arthur's neck, leaving him staring at Eames. With a slight nod from Arthur, Eames presses a button and the big screen flashes to black and five words written in pink slowly faded in. Arthur twirls Ariadne around to face it and gets down on one knee, pulling the ring from his pocket.

_Ariadne, will you marry me? _the screen reads.

Ariadne reads the message and her eyes go wide. She looks back to Arthur and is surprised to see him on one knee, with a ring held out to her. She starts to smile manically, her eyes watering up. Then, she takes a proper look at the ring and just about squeals.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" she squeaks, throwing her arms around Arthur. The two just hold each other, too elated to move. Cobb was correct, all that mattered to Arthur right now was Ariadne and her answer.

When they both stand, Ariadne allows Arthur to slip her ring into place and then they kiss deeply, like the world no longer existed. Only when they calmed down did they realise the crowds were cheering and applauding.

Arthur rapped an arm around his fiancé's waist and turned to greet the masses, feeling like the happiest man in existence.

_**A/N:**__ So, I _had _to write this! :D I feel it's worthy of a T rating, please tell me if you think otherwise. I hoped you liked it, please let me know what you thought via the Review button. If you're wondering what their song is, it's Muse's cover of Can't Take My Eyes Off You, originally written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio, originally performed by the legendary Frankie Valli. Not exactly your typical love song but A&A ain't your typical love story ;) xxxx_


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